Coin feeder



May 24,1932. B. E. SEEMEL COIN FEEDER Filed Feb. 9, 1929 2 Shets-Sheet INV NTOR.

Wbii ATTORNEYS.

May 24, 1932. B. E. SEEMEL COIN FEEDER Filed Feb. 9, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 VENTOR. 6%.. 4,4 y /W/ 4, z

5A TTORNEYS.

Patented May'24, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT. orrica BRUNO E. SEEMEL, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK,

ASSIGNOR TO AUTOMATIC COINWRAP- PING- MACHINE CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,' A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK COIN FEEDER My invention relates to apparatus for feeding coins, coin-like tokens, and the like (all of which are hereinafter included in the term coin,), and has for its object to preventa coin arriving late or detained improperly, and, for example, only partly reaching its intended place in front of a moving machine part, from jamming the machine. From another aspect, the object of my invention is to still further detain a detained coin in a machine where coinsare positively moved from one point to another, until it can be passed on with safety to the machine. It is especially suited for the entrance to a machine wherein coins are moved positively, or in advance of a positive coin-moving stage of a coinhandling machine. To the ends indicated I provide a special gate for the coin track, which gate stands open for the passage of coins at those times when a coin can properly pass without danger of subsequently jamming, but which closes the coin track at those times when the passage of a coin might result in damage. Preferably such a gate is employed in cooperation with a coin pusher of a semi-positive feed oryielding nature, such as one pushing the coin at that stage under spring pressure. 1

lWhile the invention can be applied to coin feeding apparatus and devices of various cons structions, it is particularly intended for those coin counting and wrapping machines shown in patents of Charles S. Batdorf and machines which have been marketed for some time by the Automatic Coinwrapping Machine Co. of New York, N. Y. and is shown herein as applied to those machines, Fig. l of the accompanying drawings being a front elevation of a part of the feeder of such a machine with the invention applied thereto, Fig. 2 a side elevation partly in section of mechanism of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 a detail. I

Against a backing plate 1 of the machine, the upper end of a coin track is-formed by a vertically placed plate 2 and another plate 3 placed above and undercut as indicated at 4. In the particular machine illustrated, the delivery end of this track turns downwardly as shown particularly in Fig. 1, the lower or vertical section of the trackbeing formed by a downturned end of plate 3 at one edge of j the track, a platev 5 at the opposite edge of the track, and amember 6 cut out to receive the coin and form the lowest or end wall of the track as shown at 7 in Fig. 2. The coins here pass downwardly by gravity from a slot in the end wall of the magazine 8, coins being shown at particular placesin the track by the broken line circles 9 and 10. A pair of rollers 15, pressed toward the back plate 1 by the leaf spring l6,'constitutes'a yielding gate or gate yieldingly closing the path to coins va short distance above its lower end. Ordinarily the coins pass freely down the track by gravity until just below the turn in the track, they are stopped by one striking the rollers 15 of the yielding gate. The whole train of coins in thetrack above the gate is then at rest and from this point (in the machine chosen to illustrate the invention) are fed substantially positively onto the second or horizontal track herein indicated simply by the line 14 formingthe bottom of the horizontal track. For this positive feed, a first pusher or down pusher is in the form of an 'arcuate arm 18 fixed to the ,rock shaft 19 which also carries an arm 20 connected by link 21 to cam lever 22, the roller 23 of which bears on and is actuated by cam 24: carried by the power driven shaft 25. A spring 26 maintains the cam roller 23 in engagement withthe cam 24 and tends to hold the pusher arm 18 in raised position (position opposite to that shown in Fig. 1). This pusher arm 18 in turning downwardly to the position shown in Fig. ,1, passes into the coin track, strikes against the coin immediately held by the yielding gate 15, pushes this coin through this gate (pushing the rollers 15 back againstthe tension of their spring 16) and thus delivers a single coin to the bottom of the track as indicated at 10. The pusher 18 is then retracted by the nose of the cam passing from underneath the roller 23.

Machines ofthis types are well known. It

may happen however that a coin is detained in rolling down to the corner in the track, i. e. the corner formed at the righthand end of the plate 2; orpossibly the magazine 8- therefore that the pusher 18,

the corner of the track walls. If to avoid jamming at this point, the pusher 18 is yieldingly connected to its cam lever 22, so that {This pin 39 is mounted the jammed coin may stop the downward movement of the pusher 18 without damage to the machine, it may be that the continued or increased tension produced by the cam lever 22 on the pusher 18, may later snap the coin off the corner and down to the bottom ofthe track. In the latter event the face of the pusher 30 may reach the coin before it has reached the level of the bottom ofthe horizontal track 14, andjam the coin against the top (not shown) of the slot leading into the horizontal track 14, and cause jamming at this place. As shown in the drawings, the pusher 30 is mounted on an arm 31, hinged at 32 and is actuated by a link 33 attached to the eccentric strap 34; encircling eccentric 35, mounted on shaft 25; the time relation between the operations of the pushers 18 and 30 is apparent from the relation between the cam 2 1 and eccentric 35 in Fig. 1.

To avoid such a possibility, I have pro vided a timed gate here shown in the form of a pin 39 sliding through the back wall 1 into the coin track slightly above the rollers 15, but out ofthe path of the pusher 18. on a slide 40 pressed by spring 41 to gate-closed position; A lever d2 hinged at 13 to the frame of the machine, is connected by link it to a cam lever 45, the roller 16 of which bears on cam 47 also mounted on the power driven shaft 25, and thereby timed as to its operation with respect to both of the pushers. The nose portion of the cam 17, in actuating the cam lever 45, swings the lever 42 in a manner to open the gate 39, by forcing back the slide 10 against the tension of the spring 41. By arranging the gate 39 to be closed simply by yielding or spring pressure, it is evident that no damage will be done if a coin should stand in front of the pin 39 at a time when this gate is presumed to move to track-closing position, if thisshould ever occur; the coin will simply hold the gateagainst complete closing move ment. The cams 4:7 and 24: are so shaped and so angularly placed on the shaft 25 that the sequence of operation is as follows:

While the pusher 18 is standing in itsupper position (position opposite to that shown in Fig. 1), awaiting the fall of a coin onto the yielding gate 15, the gate pin 39 is held retracted, and accordingly the track is open at this point. The foremost coin of the track again rises; that is to same manner as can pass to the yielding gate 15 therefore, as before. Should a coin be at the gate 15, the operation proceeds as before described, but immediately after the pusher 18 has moved far enough to move a coin held by 15 to a point completely'below the gate 39, this gate pin 39 is projected into the coin track. At the proper time the pusher 18 rises and shortly thereafter the gate pin 39 isretracted to the track-open position shown in Figure 2. The added gate 39 in-no way changes the normal cycle of operations there fore, but should the pusher 18 engage a coin atthe corner of the track, and thereby be delayed even momentarily, the gate 39 springs out to close the track during this momentary delay, and should the coin-now snap off this corner, onto the gate 39, and no farther. By yieldingly connecting the pusher 18 to its cam lever-22, the pusher 18 is allowed to remain up with safety to when the gate39 thus catches a coin. For this yielding connection of the pusher 18 to its cam lever 22, I have provided the combined telescoping link and spring connection illustrated. That is to say, the rod 21 comprises two telescoping' parts, the upper portion 21 per se threaded into a hollow sleeve 52 which slides easily overthe rod 53 which is directly hinged to the cam lever 22 and'out 7 'of the rod 53. The telescoping members 21,

'52 and 53 act rather as a guide therefore than anything else, and the spring 54: transmits the pull of the cam lever 22 to the pusher 18. v

' It is obvious that a coin thus caught and held 'by gate 39 under the thrust of the pusher 18, is thus retained until the pusher 18 say until another cycle. On the subsequent retreat of the gate pin 39, this coin falls to the yielding-gate15, and in the next cycle is fed to position 10 in the a coin that arrives at 15 at the proper time in the normal order of events. It willbe understood that my invention is not limited to the details illustrated and described, except as appears hereinafter in the said pusher and actuator, and a device to stop the movement of said pusher in the'pushing direction,said device and actuator being so timed that said device acts to stop the movement of the pusher'immediately after each actuation of the actuator toactuate the'pusher to ush a coin along said track. i

.2. n combination with a coin ife'eding mechanism having a track for coins, of a the pusher 18 thrusts it down only itself and the machine 7 yielding pusher to yieldingly push the coins along said track, and a gate to open and close said track at a section of the track through which the pusher can push coins, sothat said gate when closed prevents the passage along said track of a coin being pushed by said pusher.

3. In a coin feeding mechanism, a track for coins, a yielding pusher to push coins along said track, a gate to close the track in the path of coins being pushed by said pusher, and means to actuate the pusher and to control the gate, said means being so timed that the gate closes immediately after said means has acted to actuate the pusher to push coins beyond the gate. a

4. In combination with a coin feeding mechanism having a device for propelling coins and a track along which coins pass to said device, of a gate to close said track to prevent the passage of coins to said device, a yielding pusher to yieldingly push coins along said track to said device, means operating in a timed relation to said device to actuate said yielding pusher and to control the gate to cause the gate to close immediately after said means has acted to actuate the pusher to push coins beyond the gate, said gate being so located that when closed it prevents the passage of coins under the thrust of the yielding pusher.

5. In a coin feeding mechanism, a device to propel coins, a track to lead coins to said device, a yielding gate yieldingly closing the track, a yielding pusher to push coins through said yielding gate to said device, a positive gate to positively prevent the passage of coins along said track under the thrust of said yielding pusher, and means operating in a timed relation with said device to actuate said pusher and controlling said positive gate to cause said gate to close immediately after saidmeans has acted to actuate the pusher to push coins beyond the positive gate.

6. The combination of claim 3 character ized by the fact that the said gate is urged toward closed position by spring pressure.

7 The combination of claim 4, characterized by the fact that the actuation for the coin propelling device, and also the said means for actuating the yielding pusher and for controlling the gate, are cams driven by the same shaft.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification.

' BRUNO E. SEEMEL. 

